asrock z77 extreme 4 and gtx 670 ftw video problem

[totallysane]

Hey guys I have been scowering the internet to try and find fixes for this. EVGA just keep throwing things at me to do and was wondering if there was something you guys knew of. Main problem is random driver crashes during games
Battlefield 3, Neverwinter, Warframe, Bioshock Infinite, Blood Dragon, Far Cry 3
This is my 2nd gtx 670 ftw ed from EVGA first one was RMAd, and what's wierd was there was a screw rolling around in the plastic shipping part. Here's the rig rundown

CPU: Intel core i5 2500k Sandy Bridge 3.4ghz OC-4.4ghz
PSU: Corsair GS800
MOBO: AsRock Z77 Extreme 4
CASE: CoolerMaster HAF 922
COOLING: Corsair H80 Gskill Sniper: 1600mhz
GRAPHICS: EVGA Geforce GTX 670 FTW 2G

I had joined the thread at evga but that help/info has stopped with no answers http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?&m=1905793&mpage=2
I did a complete driver sweep in safe mode and beta 320.14 reinstall. I am currently running my gtx 460 until i can test my 670 again tomorrow due to the fact i have a stream tonight and it crashes everytime.
the GTX 460 runs flawlessly, never a crash, but i wanted the 670 upgrade of course. now I have a somewhat functioning $400 brick. I don't want to sent it in again.
I have changed the mobo from gen3 to gen2
EVGA thinks it might be because the i5 only supports up to 1333 mem, so i lowered the clock on that. My system is still currently overclocked.
I also have reflashed the mobo firmware and I am sitting at 2.8 currently. Any ideas? and also EVGA replied that they tested my old card that did the exact same thing and it worked fine for them... wonder what they are doing that I'm not.

Any other questions I'll gladly answer, this has been going on for months.

 

[pezonator]

Hi

Sorry to hear of your troubles when all you want to do is game! I also own an EVGA 670 FTW and it has worked flawlessly for over 6 months. I also have a similar motherboard, just check my signature.

It will not be the RAM, I have 2133 ram and everyone I know does too, so that's not it. Unfortunately, the only real way to test it is in another computer. Do you have access to a spare pc? That way, if it crashes that pc, it's 99% the video card issue.

The fact that your 460 runs perfectly fine should be a clear indication that it's the 670 with an issue. If you use the latest nVidia driver, you should be able to swap the cards without any issues and the fact the 670 causes problems, it is the problem. Step 1, if you can test in another computer, great. Step 2, send the card back. Good luck with it

edit: I'm guessing here... A 460 is PCI-E 2 I believe and the 670 is PCI-E 3, that's the only other thing that could be the issue. If you can somehow check in the BIOS or use GPU-Z to determine what PCI-E setting is being used.